Four Seven
by helsbels90
Summary: Set in the aftermath of Skyfall, Bond (Craig) is called summoned to a mysterious meeting where a new acquaintance informs him of a threat to bring down MI6 and the Government; will he agree to this unauthorised mission? And will the tiny team be able to counter the plot and find the mole in the service without personal feelings clouding their judgement?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Cheshire Street

Glancing behind him to check that he was indeed alone, James pulled out his mobile phone and checked the text message again. Confirming that he was in the right street he began to count the steel doors on his right hand side, one two, three…four. The message told him to use the small door on the right hand side of the fourth lock up entrance. Squinting through the heavy drizzle that was falling across London he confirmed that he was alone in the poorly lit street one last time before slowly opening the smaller door on the right, built into a larger metal frame. Ducking inside he was surprised to find the room lit and empty, the neighbouring buildings were registered as storage areas for local market traders. This one, however, didn't seem to exist. Exhaling the breath he had been holding since opening the outer door, James noticed a doorway at the very back of the high ceilinged area, there was a light beyond it. Keeping one hand on the handgun holstered under his shoulder, beneath his tailored black woollen coat, he moved stealthily forward. Carefully James began his journey down the wide concrete steps, the design of them was familiar, but he keeps his attention focused on the bend at the bottom of this flight, ever ready for what he may face beyond it. Swinging round, weapon poised in front of him he finds nothing but the next flight of steps. Glancing behind him, James frowns realising why the stairwell seems so familiar; the tiles on the wall are plain except for the coloured ones that form a tube station logo, reading: 'Cheshire Steet'.

Continuing with silent footsteps James reaches the bottom, facing an archway that leads onto an obviously idle platform. Questions stream through James' mind, deciding it is the only way to find the answers he continues ahead.

"I wasn't sure you would come" The statement takes James by surprise, for the simple fact it was made by a female. Emerging from the shadows at the far end of the platform she almost smiles.

"You're Mattie?" James questions, his eyebrows rising slightly. The woman nods in reply.

"You were expecting a man?" her lips curl at the corners, reading his mind "It's a nickname" Mattie steps forward. James eyes her coolly, internally analysing everything about her. He notices that she is only a little shorter than himself, and that her knee length, leather boots are only slightly heeled. Her legs are slender and muscled, encased in thin black tights before they disappear under her navy blue, mid-thigh length winter coat – which is immaculate like his own. The coat fits well, and displays the outline of her slim figure. Pursing his lips slightly, he notices that she is wearing black leather gloves – no fingerprints, what could she have planned for him, he wants to chuckle, he too is wearing black leather gloves. Moving above her hands, he appraises Mattie's face. It's pretty, beautiful pale skin, piercing blue/grey eyes and all of her features are framed by honey blonde hair that falls just below her shoulders, which seems to be curling into unruly waves as it dries after being exposed to the rain. He tries to guess her age, it's impossible, she only looks to be in her twenties, but the serious expression and sadness that sits in her eyes make her appear older than her years.

"You didn't think I'd show up?"

"Let me see? You get a message from a stranger demanding an urgent meeting alone with you, before dawn, in what turns out to be a deserted and unused tube station. I think I would have been dubious about attending – or at least in your line of work I would consider bringing the cavalry." She reasons simply.

"Quite, but I am alone and now curious, perhaps you could enlighten me" He lowers his weapon slightly.

"I need help. And I think you may be the only person that I can turn to 007" Mattie sighs at the confession, whilst James stiffens at the use of his code name.

"Why and how would I help you?" James questions, watching Mattie as she wanders over to a neglected bench and sits crossing her willowy legs.

"Because you love your country and your job – and more to the point you are excellent at it. Let me explain the situation. Raul Silva was responsible for the carnage that killed M and exposed MI6's major flaws and weaknesses. But he wasn't always acting alone. He had associates who helped him when he first escaped the Chinese after surviving the cyanide pill. These people are enemies of the British government and security services, Silva has shown them that they can have revenge."

"The weaknesses he exposed have and are being rectified, what makes you think there is any risk from these people?"

"Recent intelligence. They also have someone on the inside – I don't know who but I intend to find out. Things are being hidden from Mallory, he has no idea how much danger is heading his way." Mattie stares straight into James' eyes, before handing him a silver memory stick "Take this, it might help you make a decision. The files on there were all deleted from MI6's system recently, before they could be passed onto the appropriate people. As well as some other information that I have discovered elsewhere. Don't access them on a device that has access to the MI6 system, just in case they can be traced. All I ask is that you destroy the stick if you decide not to help me." James considers her words slowly – if she is earnest then she could be exposing herself by revealing her knowledge to him. On the other hand it could be an elaborate trap.

"How could you possibly know all this?"

"Don't panic 007 – I'm 004" Mattie explains. _Ahhhh the mysterious 004_, James acknowledges mentally. "I know that this is a lot to ask and take in."

"I take it you haven't spoken to Mallory about this." James perches on the bench, leaving some distance between them.

"No, I don't know if I can trust him yet. He could be involved. Even if he isn't he'd allow us to apprehend the mole and deal with the new threat; but he wouldn't allow us to have revenge for my grandmother's murder!" The venom in Mattie's voice is discernible on the final two words. James is surprised and confounded.

"But I didn't know your grandmother"

"Yes you did – you just knew her as 'M'"


	2. Chapter 2: M's Legacy

Chapter 2: M's Legacy

Two days later James entered the abandoned Cheshire Street tube station in the same manner as on his previous visit. His mind was still racing from the information he had viewed on the memory stick that Mattie had entrusted to him – if it was real then MI6 was in serious and immediate danger. He trotted down the concrete steps and spotted Mattie lounging on a bench at the far end of the platform, nursing a takeaway coffee cup in her hands. She looked over as he approached; a slow smile spreading across her face.

"So either you have decided to help me, or you have decided I'm a lunatic and want to put a stop to dastardly mischief" She grinned.

"You'll be pleased to hear it is the former." James assured her with the sly smile he knew was his best weapon against members of the opposite sex – it had an unbroken success record, until now. Mattie simply nodded and stood up, apparently not noticing the seductive expression her new acquaintances' face held. "Where and how did you get the data on here?" James continued somewhat perplexed at his lack of effect.

"Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies. For the moment at least my sources will remain anonymous. But I can assure you that they are trusted."

"You don't trust me?" James took a seat on the bench.

"My grandmother told me that she trusted you more than anyone else she knew – that is good enough for me. You will find out who they are, I just think it would be fairer if they were present themselves when they are outed." Mattie explained, fiddling with the lid on her cup.

"So where do we start?" James nodded.

"I have no idea. I initially thought that if we could identify the mole then we could use them to trace Silva's associates – but then where and how do we do that? It's not like there's only a handful of possibilities, there must be literally thousands. Plus we don't want anyone to work out what we are doing. I was hoping you might have some ideas – I'm still fairly new to all this" Mattie admitted with a slight shrug.

"Hmmm that is true. I'll give it some more thought."There was a long pause, James watched as Mattie stared down at the tracks that had not seen the wheels of a train for decades. Eventually he spoke again "You know I'd heard rumours that a couple of old underground stations existed and we had access to them, but I thought they were just a myth."

"There are two; the other one is quite well known about internally. There's an expanse of offices and rooms down there that can be used if the secondary location – the one we are in at the moment is compromised. It's nowhere near as big as the Churchill ruminants we are using, but if needs be it could serve its purpose. Mallory has people in there now upgrading everything; he's suddenly become keen to have options after Silva's gas explosion." She paused, returning to her seat and looking up towards the entrance archway, a small grin appearing "But Cheshire Street, well as far as I am aware the only people who know of its existence are sat right here. It was decommissioned about sixty years ago; when the network was developed this part of the line became obsolete, there were plans to develop it, but then a survey deemed it to be structurally unsound. As far as everyone and the records are concerned this tunnel has been filled in with concrete. There was never actually anything wrong with it, but the old head of the organisation wanted somewhere more than discreet and this was the perfect opportunity. M was shown it's secret before she took over the job and she brought me down here once."

"It's incredible, it's like a piece of espionage history, preserved and we are the only ones who get to view the museum" James glanced around appreciatively, he revelled in the gadgets that made his job easier, safer and more successful, but part of him enjoyed this insight into the past. He glanced at his Omega, checking how much longer he had.

"Somewhere you need to be?" Mattie questioned

"I have a briefing in an hour" He acknowledged.

"Me too, although I'm technically still on compassionate leave. I was going to argue that I was ready to go back into the field, but if I can draw this out then I am free to investigate this problem."

"How have we never met before? I mean I have never even seen you!"

"I think it was part of M's plan to keep us as far away from each other as possible. We have different handlers and we were never assigned to anything that might have meant we crossed paths. She told me in no uncertain terms to stay away from you." She laughed as James' eyebrows rose in shock "You have a reputation Mr Bond. We shared a lift once."

"I'm sure I would have noticed" James replied smoothly.

"Perhaps if you hadn't been so busy flirting with one of the secretaries from legal you would have done" There was no malice or judgement in Mattie's voice, just amusement.

"I thought you said M trusted me?"

"She did – just not with me! I am, was, her only grandchild." Mattie paused "I told you she brought me here, it was when I was going through selection – I was recruited from university and it was nothing to do with M; in fact I think she threw spanners in the works where she could. She didn't want me being part of this world. I knew she worked in security, but it wasn't until we came down here that she told me who she really was, tried to discourage me from following the path she had chosen. Needless to say I inherited her stubbornness and it didn't work. Obviously I kept quiet about our relationship; I didn't want anyone to think that I was only here because of who she was. I found the keys to this place after…well you know."

"I'm sorry" James stated, but the words did not sound like they were enough.

"Thank you, I know that you did all you could to save her" Mattie had read the reports and statements relating to the incident at Skyfall. James didn't know that she had arrived as he was being escorted from the small chapel for an emergency debrief with Mallory; he was unaware that she had rushed into the building to see her grandmother's lifeless form, because she could not accept what she had been told, and he was oblivious to the fact that she had been sat at the front of the church in central London when M had been remembered with honour and respect during the funeral service. "We should probably get going. You leave first; I'll give it a while then lock up. I'll contact you later to sort another meeting" Mattie pulled a mobile phone out of the pocket of her short leather jacket and handed it to him "Untraceable and the only number in it is for another untraceable number in my possession". With that the meeting was over.


	3. Chapter 3: Dinner

Chapter 3: Dinner

Pausing for a quick glance around, partly out of habit, James knocked on the dark wooden front door. After a few moments it opened to reveal Mattie, stood in skin tight jeans and a big knitted grey jumper. She was smiling at him; it was a genuine, warm smile, the type that he didn't see very often. This woman wasn't after the glamour of his job, the money or him for that matter, she wanted help and friendship, he mused as he stepped past her into the apartment. It was so much more homely than his, more furniture, more colour – more life. He could hear laughter coming from a room at the end of the hallway, casting a quizzical look to Mattie, she tilted her head to the side slightly.

"My contacts and informants. That's why I invited you round, I thought it was time for you to meet them."

"So the cryptic message was an invite then?" James smirked, confirming his guess had been correct.

"It wasn't that cryptic"

"It just said dinner, eight"

"You have skills I knew you'd work out where to find me" Mattie grinned leading the way down the hallway. Pushing the door she indicated that he should go in first. The laughter stopped as the men noticed his entrance, James shook his head with a slight huff of laughter.

"I should have known!" James rolled his eyes looking at Tanner and Q.

"Yes you should have done 007" Q agreed sarcastically.

"I hope there's a gin or vodka in that" James pointed towards his tall glass which contained a clear, fizzy liquid and a slice of lime.

"Gin" The younger man assured him, raising a mock toast to him.

"I might have been a bit misleading with the dinner invite – we're ordering pizza. Beer?" Mattie questioned before disappearing into the kitchen. The training that had become instinct to Bond kicked in and he appraised the room he was in. Several photos depicted Mattie's life, while giving nothing away about her work, other than a candid relaxed shot of her and M. They were sat side by side, smiling at a dinner table, from the look of the background it was somewhere in Italy – both looked gloriously happy. Others showed Mattie laughing with friends, celebrating with a bride, throwing her cap into the air on graduation day and cuddling a small child. In each photo he noticed that her smile was wide and made her eyes shine. That light wasn't there when she smiled anymore, and he had the sudden urge to return that happiness to her. He had had the greatest respect for M; one of his biggest regrets was not telling her before it was too late, this young woman was her closest living relative and she needed his help.

"You've seen the information then?" Tanner asked quietly

"Yes, and it doesn't look good."

"If it's as we think, well – it means big trouble Bond." He glanced towards the kitchen doorway "I'm worried about her. She's not been the same since M was killed."

"Here we go" Mattie breezed as she handed fresh beers out.

Five hours later Tanner and Q left the flat having discussed every possible option available to them. Their major problem was acting without alerting anyone to what they were doing, whilst investigating potential moles and leaks within their organisation. Tanner was going to use his high level security clearance to trawl through the files relating to Silva, using the excuse that the inquiry was coming up and he wanted to be fully informed. In addition Q was going to discreetly use his facilities to assess who had access to certain equipment that was referred to in some of the files that had been deleted before being appropriately investigated, feigning inexperience if questioned. That might give them some idea of who was behind the threats being posed – unless they were blocked, which in itself would tell them something, although it wouldn't be very helpful. James' task was to look into anything and everything he could think of, using official and non-official resources to his advantage. It was unlikely anyone would suspect anything, because it was widely accepted that Bond did as he pleased, even Mallory had reluctantly left him to his own devices so far. In addition, Mattie was going to use her leave to spend time collating all the evidence and data the others were gathering, conduct her own investigations and assist James as and when necessary.

Left on their own James sat on the end of one of the brown leather sofa, with Mattie sat at the opposite end, long legs curled underneath her.

"It won't make you feel better" James stated, breaking the silence.

"What won't?"

"Revenge - you think it will. It eats you up until you manage to achieve it, and then all you feel is emptiness and disappointment. All you will have managed is to destroy another bit of yourself"

"You sound like you speak from experience James"

"Then take it from someone who has been there, take a different route. There's more to life than taking one in vengeance" He advised

"I get it, you're not going to tell me. I get what you're saying, but you need to understand that this started off as revenge, but now it's so much more than that. The whole country is in danger and I took a vow to protect it. Yes I'm angry, yes I'm mad, but this is bigger than me! And I need your help" Mattie explained imploringly.

"Well you have it"


End file.
